The Electoral College is a controversial topic in the US. This is the system used to elect the president of the United States, but most people (60% of Americans, according to source 1) believe that we shouldn't use this particular system and that we should go with the popular vote instead, while all others are strong in their stance that we should continue its use. Under the Electoral College, it is entirely possible for a Presidential Candidate to win presidency, even with the majority of voters voting for the oposing candidate. We should discard the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote.

The Electoral College is a system that allots a certain amount of electoral votes to each state. Each state is given 2 electoral votes plus another amount of votes which depends on that state's population. The amount of votes ranges from 3 to 55 (source 3). A candidate must recieve 270 out of 538 possible votes. The candidate the electoral votes of a state go to is decided by the majority vote of each individual state. In all states but Maine and Nebraska give a candidate the entirety of their votes if the majority of its citizen votes for them (source 1). Some people don't even bother voting due to the fact that their vote will not contribute to their favored candidate's election. This happens often when a democratic voter lives in a republican state, and vice versa (source 3)

Many people stand by the Electoral College as the best course of action. They argue that the certainty of the winner is better, a candidate can't win the election due to regional favor, and this system unsures that there will still be a clear winner even when each candidate recieves the same percentage of votes.

We began using the Electoral College in order to ensure that states with low populations weren't ignored by presidential campaigns. However, it fails to do just that. Presidential candidates focus their attention to swing states, in order to win their electoral votes. Candidates have little to no need to campaign in states that have a majority of one party, because their vote is either a lost cause or all but garunteed. If this system does not do the job that it was originally intended for, then why do we continue to use it?

In conclusion, the electoral college is ineffective and outdated. we should no longer use this as a system of defining our president. Even though a winner is often more clear, there is still a possibility of a tie between candidates. People who support the Electoral College also argue that its a good thing due to swing states having more attention payed to them and therefore being more careful in their decision. However, this reasoning is flawed in that it assumes that citizens of a state are more likely to inform theirselves thouroughly simply because their vote holds more value, in a sense. Also, candidates would no longer pay special attention to swing states if the electoral college weren't in place so the votes of these citizens wouldn't be held above the rest. Increased value of votes is not a good thing, which this argument also assume. It is the best decision to abolish the Electoral College.    